Erie Cemetery History Project

Herman Daniel Schryver was born March 11, 1855, in Erie Township, Whiteside County, the son of Daniel and Lenora (Atwood) Schryver. Ella Celestia Osborne was born in Erie on April 16, 1855, the daughter of Andrew J. and Elizabeth M. (Smith) Osborne.

They were married April 4, 1874, at Lyndon, IL, by the Rev. John Gray of the Baptist Church. To this couple were born ten children, Nettie in 1875, Libbie in 1881, Charles in 1883, Albert in 1885, Harry in 1886, Myrtle in 1888, Fern in 1892, Ralph in 1895, Herman in 1900 and Walter in 1902.

In 1891, Herman Schryver had his picture taken with the Erie Brass Band, standing in the middle holding a horse whip. Whether he could play any instrument or not is still debated. He farmed most of his life, and later moved into Erie. He built a house and served as a village policeman for a short time. He suffered from crippling arthritis, and died of tuberculosis on April 21, 1915, at his home in Erie. He was an avid gardener, even after he became ill. At that time, he was forced to have a chair placed at each end of the garden because he became so exhausted by the labor. Seeley Schryver stated that his grandmother, Ellla, peddled the garden produce in Erie. Herman was remembered as a stately man with the “Schryver nose” and thick red whiskers that later became white.

The family (mostly the women) attended Erie Christian Church and it was from here that Herman was buried in an unmarked grave in Erie Cemetery.

In April of 1916, Ella Schryver, her sons Herman Jr. and Harry, and her brother, Barney Osborne, left Erie for the river bottoms near Williston, ND. They loaded a stock rail car with cattle and the family possessions. The men rode in the stock car, and Ella rode in the passenger car. It was here that Herman Jr. left to make it on his own. Harry married Blanche Mott on April 2, 1925, at Sidney, MT, and his mother lived with them. They continued to rent farmland in North Dakota.

In 1928, Ella’s brothers Henry and Jess Osborne enticed them to move to Chandler, OK. Ella, Harry and Blanche moved there in 1928.

In 1930, Ella Schryver returned to Erie and from that time on made her home with her sister, Elizabeth (Osborne) Blagg. It was there that she died on February 28, 1934. Her funeral was at Erie Christian Church and she was buried in an unmarked grave at Erie Cemetery.